In Theaters 27 Years Ago, Vin Diesel’s First Animated Movie Bombed At the Box Office, But Remains A 90s Kid Fan-Favorite

Vin Diesel is one of the biggest stars of today, with his appearances in massive franchises like The Fast and the Furious and Guardians of the Galaxy turning him into a household name. He has had a starring role in other major projects that fully rely on his star power, such as XXX, The Chronicles of Riddick, Bloodshot, and more.

However, one of Diesel’s earliest roles was in an iconic animated movie from the ’90s that, even if it wasn’t a box office success, lives on in the hearts of ’90s kids. This film actually was released 27 years ago today, and nearly three decades later, its director is still releasing incredibly exciting animated films.

The Iron Giant Hit Theaters 27 Years Ago Today

Warner Bros. Animation attempted to catch up to Disney in the 1990s, hoping to put out hits that would be just as big as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. The first effort was almost scientifically guaranteed to be a hit, with 1996’s Space Jam mixing the Looney Tunes and the decade’s most popular basketball star, Michael Jordan. Then, 1998’s The Quest for Camelot adapted the world of King Arthur, creating a fantasy world similar to many of Disney’s biggest films. Then came the third attempt. While Warner Bros. Animation’s 1999 film didn’t parody Disney’s box office success, it did exceed the quality of many of their films, which is why The Iron Giant is still so memorable to this day.

Directed by Brad Bird, The Iron Giant hit theaters on August 6, 1999. The film tells the story of a young boy named Hogarth Hughes who discovers a massive extraterrestrial robot and befriends him. Unfortunately, Hogarth and the Iron Giant live in 1957, meaning that the U.S. government quickly sets its sights on the potential war machine, believing that it could be a Soviet weapon. However, the Iron Giant is a pacifist, meaning that Hogarth must protect the kind robot from the clutches of the real war machine.

The film is based on the 1968 novel The Iron Man, and given the animated feature landscape of the ’90s, it was an odd choice to develop. The film is set in the ’50s, it’s a sci-fi, and it’s political, making it very unlike the musical fantasy films that Disney was pumping out. This, as well as the failure of The Quest for Camelot, caused Warner Bros. to lack confidence in the film. Thus, the studio was shocked at incredibly high audience scores after test screenings. It was too late for the studio to come up with a marketing campaign, meaning that the great film was sent to theaters to die. The film only made $31.7 million against a budget of $50 million, making it a box office bomb for the studio.

Although The Iron Giant was initially a failure, it has since achieved cult status, becoming one of the most popular films of the ’90s. Warner Bros. had time to prepare a marketing strategy before the film’s home video release, which is where the higher viewership began. Airings of the film on Cartoon Network during major holidays significantly boosted the film’s popularity, with the channel even doing 24-hour marathons of The Iron Giant multiple times. The Iron Giant continued to increase in popularity throughout the early 2000s, now becoming one of the most iconic films of the decade.

Finally, Brad Bird’s Next Animated Movie Releases On Netflix This Year

The Iron Giant cemented Brad Bird as one of the best directors working in animation, and Pixar quickly snatched him up. His next two films were 2004’s The Incredibles and 2007’s Ratatouille, both of which are considered two of the studio’s best movies. Sadly, Bird took a break from animation after this, instead making two live-action films: 2011’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and 2015’s Tomorrowland. He returned to animation with 2018’s Incredibles 2, and after its mixed critical reception, hasn’t made a film since.

Luckily, his next film is almost here. Bird has directed the animated neo-noir sci-fi movie Ray Gunn, which will release straight to Netflix on December 18, 2026. The movie is a passion project that Bird has been working on since the ’90s. It went from studio to studio, but never got developed until Skydance Animation signed a deal with Bird in 2021. The movie stars Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson, and follows the last human detective in a retrofuturist world filled with aliens.